Finishing touches added to the Tridge

Brand new LED lights illuminate the Tridge on Monday, Nov. 27, 2017. The lights have the ability to change color for special occasions and holidays. (Katy Kildee/kkildee@mdn.net)

Brand new LED lights illuminate the Tridge on Monday, Nov. 27, 2017. The lights have the ability to change color for special occasions and holidays. (Katy Kildee/kkildee@mdn.net)

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Brand new LED lights illuminate the Tridge on Monday, Nov. 27, 2017. The lights have the ability to change color for special occasions and holidays. (Katy Kildee/kkildee@mdn.net)

Brand new LED lights illuminate the Tridge on Monday, Nov. 27, 2017. The lights have the ability to change color for special occasions and holidays. (Katy Kildee/kkildee@mdn.net)

Finishing touches added to the Tridge

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The Tridge is still in the process of getting fully lit in time for Christmas.

The 108 newly installed LED lights are still in the process of being programmed so they can change color, said Midland City Parks Supervisor Bart Heil last week during a Parks and Recreation meeting. A controller for the lights was defective, so the city is waiting for the manufacturer to send a new one, he said.

In the meantime, what city staff did was manually switch one of the arch's lights to red, one to green and one white.

Some people are worried the lights might be too bright, Heil said, but once they have a computer controller they can be easily adjusted.

"If we do decide it's too bright, we can certainly turn it down," Heil said.

The new controller could arrive as early as the next few days, Heil said.

Other recently added finishing touches to the Tridge renovation include reinstallation of overhead walkway lights, and a center pole surrounded by three benches.

The Tridge has been open for about a month now as construction wrapped up on a $2.7 million renovation. The Tridge was re-stained, and replacements were made to decking, rails, overhead cross beams, arch lights and the lighting system.

The bulk of the Tridge upgrade was funded by the Rollin M. Gerstacker Foundation, and the rest was covered from an endowed maintenance fund at the Midland Area Community Foundation.

A grand re-opening event for the Tridge is being planned in the spring.